The building sits between rows of trees with the intention of camouflaging it within the park. The forms and materials used are intended to give it a familiar appearance. The building is screened with indigenous trees on the Nature Reserve side while the hall is built using materials and forms that are typical of the 'casòn maranese', also on the road side the building is screened by plants typical of the area. Based on a linear plan, just one storey high along the north-south axis, the building is simple in terms of both shape and construction. The collage of formally and structurally independent elements is resolved through the use of a varied palette of materials that become strongly expressive through their combination, contrast, variations in thickness and texture and the meticulous design of the junctions. The scheme underlines how this respect for the north-south axis is the guiding concept in the arrangement of the built perimeter, presenting itself as a link between the road and the protected area.
The design in relation to the context functions in various ways: on the one hand it marks the continuity of the pedestrian route along the design axes, on the other it recreates public spaces with a sense of continuity. The scheme consists of a building organised according to the design axes and the perimeter. The layout corresponds to a volumetric construction that has absolute respect for the existing. The chief aim was to create a new urban social space, without forgetting the typological and morphological characteristics of the old town. Rather than rising up like a monumental public edifice, the building prefers to sit lightly as a roof on the side of the road, like an open and accessible refuge that extends outwards and captures the basic quality of the environment: the light, with which it is shaped. The control of natural light governs the whole composition, from the orientation of the spaces to the design of the sections and the expressive nature of the structural solutions
Given the experience gained with the building of the Casoni for visitors centres that require continuous and demanding maintainance work, a building was conceived made with traditional materials, developed with a modern feel and attent to energy saving and the use of alternative energy sourcs, as well as being cheap to build and maintain. The building will be a construction of modest dimenstions (meauring 27 x 17 metres and in the highest point just 8 metres); the projecting gutters cover the external perimeter path that runs around the three glazed sides of the building. As such the roof as such makes continuous cones of shadow on the glazed walls, a decision that made it possible to not build external closures such as shutters or balconies and means a ‘cleaner’ outer appearance for the building.
Foresteria Valle Canal Novo, hospitality structure with guest accommodation, Marano Lagunare (UD)
Architect: Mauro Rossetto architettura & design
Structure and services design: Ugo Ferrazzo
Client: Comune di Marano Lagunare
Realization: 2003 – 2005
